Patricia “Treekie” Kavanagh has always been an animal lover. But until she gets pets of her own, she’s been making do with those around the neighborhood. “Everyone gets plenty of exercise with Treekie at the helm,” said her mom, Jill. The 7-year-old averages five miles per week walking Sky, a Wheaton terrier, and Callie, a Golden Doodle (pictured here). She plays with the neighbors’ cats, Disco and Dudley, and rides horses at Glenmore Equestrian Center, where she gets to spend time with chickens and ducks, too. One day, Treekie says, she’d love to own dogs, cats, horses, chickens, and all farm animals (“She notes that she will not eat her farm animals,” her mom said). But her top choice? A pony. Said Jill, “For now, Breyer Horses, My Little Pony, and neighbors’ pets will suffice!”

It’s 8:45pm on a cold November night. The tech rehearsal has been going since 4pm, and I’ve been at the theater since 11am. My shoulders have inched gradually up to hover around my ears. The cast is running the finale with lights and sound, and in my capacity as assistant director, I’m sitting

Earlier this year, then-15-year-old snowboarder and Charlottesville native Ward Saunders traveled to Copper Mountain, Colorado, to compete in the U.S.A. Snowboard Association’s national championships. Described by the event website as “the largest snowboard and free skiing event on earth,” the

I was stewing—not something on the stovetop, but because of the article I was reading. The title, “Getting Your Kids to eat (or at Least Try) Everything,” promised so much. The content provided so little. The author’s solution to getting kids to try new things was to do what he, a cook-book

I remember the moment my husband and I decided on a name for our first child. I wish I could tell you that the clouds parted and the sun shone on my belly as the universe accepted the name for its new inhabitant. Names are big deals, after all. The truth is, we were driving […]

Dahlia Lithwick didn’t hold out much hope for the injured baby bird her family found last spring. “We put it in a box and were feeding it worms from our compost heap, trying to keep him alive as best we could,” she said. After a lengthy Facebook back-and-forth, it was decided that “Chirpy’s”

As every parent knows, a bored child is a menace to herself and others. Lacking positive ways of focusing her attention, my toddler, for example, will use her own body in experiments designed to discover if there are any loopholes in the laws of gravity. Keeping children entertained during the

The best way to take in a winter wonderland? By barreling down a snow-covered hill so fast you feel like you’re flying. Grab your sled (or, go old school—a trashcan lid’ll do!) and hit these mini-slopes around Charlottesville. O Hill See if you can get a student to swipe you a cafeteria tray

The day McDonald’s added apple slices to the Happy Meal was the day any lingering denial about America’s obesity epidemic died. Houston, we get it. We have a Big Mac problem. Our First Lady plants gardens and dances the “Dougie” with middle school students, and Cookie Monster now teaches our

It’s no secret that Charlottesville loves the written word. The home of the Festival of the Book, local treasures like Dedalus Books, and ongoing workshops and classes at WriterHouse, this town is the place to be for writers and readers of all ages. You might recognize some of the big local

Movies make it easy. Their rating system provides a pretty good suggestion for the appropriate age for kids to see certain flicks. Real-life? Not so much. Which is why it can be challenging for parents who are trying to determine if their child is old enough to, say, walk alone to the school

Shortly after she learned to talk, Molly Streit announced that she wanted to take horseback riding lessons. “I made the rule that she couldn’t ride until she was 5,” her mother, Meghan, said. “The day after she turned 5, she took her first lesson.” Molly is now 7 years old, and has been riding

Is there a commonly accepted “playground etiquette?” Or are playgrounds a lawless land ruled by barbaric, screaming bullies and their diaper-clad children? Thinking back, wistfully, to my own children’s blissful playground days, I see images of radiant, round-faced, sun-screened toddlers,

With one child still in preschool and one in grade school, I’ve already fallen into the typical yo-yo family routine phenomenon: By the last month of the regular school year, I’m just done. Done with daily lunch packing. Done with backpack checking and bake sales. Done with incessant clock

One of the things that made me wary about having children earlier was intimidation over the sheer work involved in raising kids. I thought I’d do fine with the nurturing, tender, Hallmark moments of fatherhood, but I was much less confident in my ability to manage the mundane day-to-day labor

They call themselves the Smartie-Nerds (a mash-up of the two candy names), and after placing fifth in the world at last spring’s Destination Imagination global competition at the University of Tennessee, nobody’s going to argue with them. “Them” is Madison Gildersleeve-Price, Abby and Elly

If your baby has an iPotty (training potty with iPad attached, obviously), your toddler boys have portable urinals, and you and your daughter are currently wearing matching breastmilk-pendant necklaces, congratulations! You’re taking advantage of some of the completely absurd new and innovative

For some, the start of children’s sports season is a flurry of e-mails from team coaches, attending the first practice, or making a last-minute run to the store for athletic gear. For me, sports season officially begins when I sit down in my sandy folding chair at the opening game, and set my

The end of summer and the beginning of a new school year always brings new families to town looking for the best medical care for their children. When thinking about the doctor’s office for your children, it is important to look for high quality care with experienced pediatric physicians,

The kids are back in school, so we know what that means—back to soccer practices, Boy Scout meetings, football games, and band competitions. Free time is sparse, but if you’re looking for one more activity to squeeze in, consider something that will not only teach your kid valuable skills, but

For decades, Linda and Clay Trainum had dreamed of creating a sustainable business that they could run as a family with their now-grown sons (Logan, 26, Tyler, 25, and Luke, 20). In 2008, the Trainums moved from North Carolina to Clay’s family farm in Waynesboro and began the daunting task of